2018 Olympic Season: Ice Dance

[Anyasnake]

Re Alla&Pavel. I don't get their programs/packaging. I'd rather have them doing something bland than their Chigaco FD. The SD music is childish, yet they can get all their Key Points, good twizzles, etc. It just look frantic, not organised. I don't see them scoring well at all at nationals at this point...

Chapis, what do you mean by "I'm having many doubts with Alla" ? For Pavel to find another partner ? Because that could be a huge mistake, yet I'm seeing that everywhere

 

[Barb]

Re Alla&Pavel. I don't get their programs/packaging. I'd rather have them doing something bland than their Chigaco FD. The SD music is childish, yet they can get all their Key Points, good twizzles, etc. It just look frantic, not organised. I don't see them scoring well at all at nationals at this point...

Chapis, what do you mean by "I'm having many doubts with Alla" ? For Pavel to find another partner ? Because that could be a huge mistake, yet I'm seeing that everywhere

yes, I mean, I think the difference between them is more notorious, Alla is not good enough. I think that in North America, coaches are more able to work with teams where one of the partners is much weaker. With the Russian teams it seems that their coaches can not hide the weakness at all.

 

[Anyasnake]

yes, I mean, I think the difference between them is more notorious, Alla is not good enough. I think that in North America, coaches are more able to work with teams where one of the partners is much weaker. With the Russian teams it seems that their coaches can not hide the weakness at all.

I agree that yes, it's more notorious. If anything, Pavel has a presence on the ice that is huge, but they don't package her well either. She has the same issues that some Russian ladies have such as Bobrova and Stepanova : she bends foward a lot. Too much even. While Stepanova clearly did some huge effort and it's paying off very much, Alla isn't there yet.
However, L/D have a great knee bend and very very good edges. At some point you want to showcase this, because it's what makes your team better and you can work your weaknesses on the side to become more of a complete skater as the seasons goes by. But their programs are the usual sloppy/frantic skate, and there is no interpretation or great dance movements (or any real dance, just a bit of mimicking sometimes), yet you see that there is potential. Ugh, frustration.
Now I ask myself about funding. Yes having a theater teacher + ballroom teacher + personnal choreographer is very very expensive. But I'm hoping their camp have some connections somewhere to have them being choreographed by someone who can put on something good for them.

 

[Barb]

I agree that yes, it's more notorious. If anything, Pavel has a presence on the ice that is huge, but they don't package her well either. She has the same issues that some Russian ladies have such as Bobrova and Stepanova : she bends foward a lot. Too much even. While Stepanova clearly did some huge effort and it's paying off very much, Alla isn't there yet.
However, L/D have a great knee bend and very very good edges. At some point you want to showcase this, because it's what makes your team better and you can work your weaknesses on the side to become more of a complete skater as the seasons goes by. But their programs are the usual sloppy/frantic skate, and there is no interpretation or great dance movements (or any real dance, just a bit of mimicking sometimes), yet you see that there is potential. Ugh, frustration.
Now I ask myself about funding. Yes having a theater teacher + ballroom teacher + personnal choreographer is very very expensive. But I'm hoping their camp have some connections somewhere to have them being choreographed by someone who can put on something good for them.

Good point :think:

 

[Ice Dance]

But their programs are the usual sloppy/frantic skate, and there is no interpretation or great dance movements (or any real dance, just a bit of mimicking sometimes).

Yes, these programs are sloppy. But it's not usual for them. I think, essentially, they threw the kitchen sink into their programs technically this season; but the choreographer didn't really grasp the Chicago story. Latin--I think--should be fast & loaded; but in this case, it's not really working. Stronger than at the beginning of the season, but not really a Latin feel.

However, Loboda & Drozd are capable of much more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqUv-czW0Oc

I like when dance teams take the technical risk. Sometimes it doesn't pay off immediately, but I would rather see young teams tackle new skills & movement than repeat the same elements over & over like Lauriault & Le Gac. In the long run, I think it will bring L&D farther. Maybe I'm wrong. Cleanliness is worth so much on the step sequences in this particular era. But down the road, I think experimentation now for teams like Loboda & Drozd, Nazarova & Nikitin, and McNamara & Carpenter is likely to pay off.

 

[Anyasnake]

Russian Nationals :

1 - Bobrova/Soloviev 77.53 (Won on PCS - wonky twizzle)
2 - Stepanova/Bukin 76.97 (best crowd reaction by a mile)
3 - Zagorski/Gueirrero 71.52 (same, very energetic)
4 - Sinitsina/Katsalapov 68.46 (messy twizzles from Victoria)

 

[coldblueeyes]

Russian Nationals :

1 - Bobrova/Soloviev 77.53 (Won on PCS - wonky twizzle)
2 - Stepanova/Bukin 76.97 (best crowd reaction by a mile)
3 - Zagorski/Gueirrero 71.52 (same, very energetic)
4 - Sinitsina/Katsalapov 68.46 (messy twizzles from Victoria)

Let's do one different:

1- Bobrova/Soloviev - didn't win by a mile because they were very tentative in 3/5 elements, were mature enough not to let the program go to the gutter
2- Stepanova/Bukin - skated the best program of their lives, with healthy help in PCS from the fed and still didn't win
3- Zagorski/Guerrero - should have garnered more points because it was one of the best programs of the night (tightest tech content)
4- Sinitsina/Katsalapov - could have done better, but actually deserved their scores compared to the rest

 

[oceanle]

My favourite skating team of all time - Papadakis/Cizeron. Their 2015-16 To Build a Home routine is my all time favourite routine. I wish they used that for the Olympics. 2015-16, I immediately loved their routine whereas this year, the programs grew on me. Their ice skating is flawless but the music too some time for me to grow to love.

I just adore Virtue/Moir FS to Moulin Rouge, it's the best I watched from them and I think it's a more entertaining program than P/C.
I love the skating style of P/C more but V/M gets my vote for the better overall program and music selection.

Both are deserving of the gold!

 

[asp11]

The rivalry between V/M and P/C will be intriguing to watch. I'm so pumped for a stellar showdown!!!

 

[bramweld]

The rivalry between V/M and P/C will be intriguing to watch. I'm so pumped for a stellar showdown!!!

Now the real biznees is about to begin.

 

[Anyasnake]

We have a couple of showdown before the Games.

Biggest one : US championships.

There is Canadian nationals after that - we'll have to see G/P's new FD, and both WeaPo and V/M FDs (I'm guessing changes for both).

And then, Euros in Russia ! I'm so excited for this one, I won't be suprised if both B/S and S/B are on the podium.

 

[Andrea82]

The Olympic field seems determined with the exception of the second French team. S/S, H/D and C/B are a lock for USA. Same for V/M, W/P and G/P in Canada. Given Katsalapov's injury, Russia's top 2 is also pretty much set (assuming IOC approve them).

Listed by ISU Season Best:

Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON 202.16
Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR 199.86
Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI 194.25
Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE 190.01
Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE 189.43
Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES 187.15
Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV 186.66
Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE 186.56
Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN 179.35
Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI 178.16
Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND 177.13
Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER 172.29
Natalia KALISZEK / Maksym SPODYRIEV 168.58
Sara HURTADO / Kirill KHALIAVIN 163.53
Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR 162.48
Alexandra NAZAROVA / Maxim NIKITIN 160.88
Kana MURAMOTO / Chris REED 159.30
(Marie-Jade LAURIAULT / Romain LE GAC 157.62)
(Angelique ABACHKINA / Louis THAURON 155.55)
Kavita LORENZ / Joti POLIZOAKIS 152.50
Yura MIN / Alexander GAMELIN 152.00
Shiyue WANG / Xinyu LIU 151.17
Cortney MANSOUROVA / Michal CESKA 143.44
Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Lukas CSOLLEY 143.22
Adel TANKOVA / Ronald ZILBERBERG 112.45


4 are sadly cut after SD. Tankova/Zilberberg can't avoid this fate, really. They area bit out of place in this field.

Ordered by Short Dance SBs:

Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR 82.68
Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON 82.07
Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI 79.18
Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE 77.47
Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV 76.33
Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE 76.31
Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE 75.87
Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES 74.36
Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND 71.79
Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI 71.78
Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN 71.32
Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER 69.67
Natalia KALISZEK / Maksym SPODYRIEV 67.94
Sara HURTADO / Kirill KHALIAVIN 67.14
Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR 64.50
Alexandra NAZAROVA / Maxim NIKITIN 63.33
(Marie-Jade LAURIAULT / Romain LE GAC 62.79)
Kana MURAMOTO / Chris REED 62.67
Yura MIN / Alexander GAMELIN 61.97
Kavita LORENZ / Joti POLIZOAKIS 61.09
(Angelique ABACHKINA / Louis THAURON 59.91)
Shiyue WANG / Xinyu LIU 59.07
Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Lukas CSOLLEY 55.97
Cortney MANSOUROVA / Michal CESKA 54.94
Adel TANKOVA / Ronald ZILBERBERG 45.11

 

[oceanle]

V/M is 2 points behind P/C in the free skate. I wonder what they can do to add two points to their programs because their short program are neck to neck.

 

[gmyers]

We have a couple of showdown before the Games.

Biggest one : US championships.

There is Canadian nationals after that - we'll have to see G/P's new FD, and both WeaPo and V/M FDs (I'm guessing changes for both).

And then, Euros in Russia ! I'm so excited for this one, I won't be suprised if both B/S and S/B are on the podium.

I don’t want to think about how bad c/l would have to be not to medal! It seems like gold p/c silver c/l bronze b/s. I if c/l doesn’t even medal it would mean something so terrible.

 

[bramweld]

I don’t want to think about how bad c/l would have to be not to medal! It seems like gold p/c silver c/l bronze b/s. I if c/l doesn’t even medal it would mean something so terrible.

Trust me this season, Anna looks just as awkward over her skates as Stepanova. Albeit C/L have the slight edge in that they do have the better SD. If only they had the skating skills to pull it off. I find both FDs to be a snooze, but S/B are just slightly more compelling as a couple so I could see both B/S and S/B on the podium. But we'll see, I hope.

As for Canadians, the judges seem to have G/P firmly pegged in third. W/P would have to have a poor showing similar to what they had in France to not be in second. But let's see what the skaters have to say for themselves.

The only real fight is really in the US. The FD of the top 3 seem pretty close.

 

[Coltrocks12]

So sad Ships didn't do well at Nationals. I don't like H/D as much. Made me sad.

 

[gmyers]

Trust me this season, Anna looks just as awkward over her skates as Stepanova. Albeit C/L have the slight edge in that they do have the better SD. If only they had the skating skills to pull it off. I find both FDs to be a snooze, but S/B are just slightly more compelling as a couple so I could see both B/S and S/B on the podium. But we'll see, I hope.

As for Canadians, the judges seem to have G/P firmly pegged in third. W/P would have to have a poor showing similar to what they had in France to not be in second. But let's see what the skaters have to say for themselves.

The only real fight is really in the US. The FD of the top 3 seem pretty close.

Judges have completely embraced cappelini! They made her world champion while they bury Stepanova in 10 th place in short dances.

 

[Anyasnake]

US nationals are over : 1.H/D 2.S/S 3.C/B
Shibs won the SD, C/B won the FD, H/D overall, 0.52 separating the 3 teams.

Canadian nationals next week. What to expect :
-V/M music change at the end of their FD - a "more theatrical ending", I'm guessing the piano part at the end is thrown away (?) to make it bigger.
-G/P new James Bond FD
-The scoring of the 3 teams, not the points (because national inflation) but the difference between all of them.

 

[cocotaffy]

US nationals are over : 1.H/D 2.S/S 3.C/B
Shibs won the SD, C/B won the FD, H/D overall, 0.52 separating the 3 teams.

Canadian nationals next week. What to expect :
-V/M music change at the end of their FD - a "more theatrical ending", I'm guessing the piano part at the end is thrown away (?) to make it bigger.
-G/P new James Bond FD
-The scoring of the 3 teams, not the points (because national inflation) but the difference between all of them.

Is it your guess or did you read it somewhere ?

 

[MelDee]

Is it your guess or did you read it somewhere ?

This article was published last week about what to expect from V/M at the Canadian Nats: https://bevsmithwrites.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/virtue-and-moir-reborn-after-the-grand-prix-final/